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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148819">Kindling (When You're Burning Low)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LatteLesbian/pseuds/LatteLesbian'>LatteLesbian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Cinder is bad at self-care and doesn't believe in breaks, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Healthy Relationships, Literal Sleeping Together, Neo is a good girlfriend, Overworking, Roommates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:01:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,119</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148819</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LatteLesbian/pseuds/LatteLesbian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cinder would rather burn herself out than risk a low grade; fortunately, Neo knows how to make her relax.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cinder Fall/Neopolitan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Kindling (When You're Burning Low)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>IMPORTANT NOTE: This AU is kind of like the My Hero Academia world in the sense that it's totally normal except special abilities are a thing. In other words, it's a regular modern world with no Grimm/magic/etc, but Semblances still exist. This also involves one of my personal headcanons about the possible practical applications of Cinder's Semblance.</p>
<p>It's past midnight post-last day so I don't know if this still counts for Spicecream Week or not now, but hey, still worth posting! I hope! ^_^;</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Remnant College Consortium had perks. This much was undeniable to anyone in attendance. Acceptance into any of the four colleges within the consortium meant the ability to attend classes at any other for no additional charge, for one. There was also no shortage of diversity, and the programs were elite enough that a degree from one of the colleges was worth more than ten years of work experience to most employers. Free public transportation between four cities was definitely another plus. But the double-edged sword that could be a student’s dream come true or worst nightmare was the dorm system.</p>
<p>Most students lived in dorms on the campus of their main college, of course, but there were also those who divided their hours much more evenly between two or more of the schools. For them, there was the option to stay in a complex of approximately equal distance between all four campuses. Each “dorm” was more of an apartment suite than anything, with four individual bedrooms that shared a large lounge, a full kitchen, a half bath, and a shower—all state of the art and fully furnished. The catch? You were obligated to stay in that complex for the rest of your days as a student, and once you were assigned roommates—which could not be requested—they only changed if they graduated, dropped out, or got expelled. If you were put in a suite with someone you hated, you were out of luck. There were no RAs. No roommate agreements. Each resident was expected to act like an adult and coexist. The fortunate were blessed with three soon-to-be friends who had no problems designating chores or respecting boundaries; the <em>un</em>fortunate…well, it was no coincidence that over half of the consortium’s dropouts had lived in Evernight.</p>
<p>Thank all that was good and true in this world, Cinder Fall was distinctly in the “fortunate” category.</p>
<p>She, along with two of her current roommates, were among the minority who applied for Evernight residence right off the bat, and they had all lucked out with the third-year student to whose suite they were assigned. It was a damn miracle that four admittedly difficult personalities managed to actually get along—even more so that when Sienna graduated, the first-year who filled her empty room fit in just as well…minus the couple awkward months of Cinder and Winter doing their best to pretend they didn’t notice Emerald’s obvious crush on Cinder or the way Neo made an unnecessary point of being borderline possessive over her girlfriend every time Emerald was nearby.</p>
<p>(That was an added lucky break in Cinder’s Evernight roommate assignment: somehow she’d ended up in a committed relationship that was now about two and a half years old. And if she had to hear <em>one more </em>goddamn “they were roommates” joke from Emerald’s idiot best friend or Neo’s idiot adoptive brother, someone was going to burn.)</p>
<p>On this fine Saturday afternoon, Cinder was taking advantage of the lounge in the dorm suite. The coffee table was half-claimed by various books and notes while Cinder herself was settled at the same end of the couch, her laptop perched on the arm of it and her right side pressed closely against the suede upholstery as she struggled with the perfect phrasing for her essay. Failure was never an option for her, and even the slightest error would lead to it when it came to this class. She was running on pure caffeine by now, from a supposedly unhealthy amount of coffee. This was her third or fourth solid day of being awake. After the first night, she’d moved her setup from her room to the lounge to help her stay more alert. Winter and Emerald had both tried to tell her what was best for her wellbeing, but she’d firmly shut down their arrogance; she knew her own limits, and she needed to get this stupid project done. Neo, thankfully, had been out of town from Thursday morning to last night, and when she’d come back to the suite, she’d trudged straight to her room and shut the door. Cinder had only seen a couple brief glimpses of her since. Just as well, considering Cinder couldn’t intimidate her into letting her be like she could to Emerald and Winter.</p>
<p>At the moment, Emerald and Winter were both out of the building. They’d each probably told her what they were doing, but she hadn’t bothered to remember it. Neo was apparently still asleep, which was a bit odd but not enough so to risk seeing the pitiful kicked-puppy expression that appeared when her sleep was disturbed. Still, if she wasn’t up and about in two hours, it would be worth it to check on her mental and physical health.</p>
<p>Speak of the devil, Cinder heard a door open behind her. She didn't bother to look, though, until she realized the shuffling footsteps were approaching the couch instead of the kitchen, bathroom, or shower. She took a brief glance, then did an immediate double take because Neo looked absolutely miserable. Her hair was unbrushed and her eyes were dull. The oversized black sweatshirt (which Cinder recognized by the fiery orange phoenix on the front as one of her own that had mysteriously vanished a few weeks ago) and the brown and pink plaid pajama pants were probably what she'd worn to bed the night before, and she hadn't even bothered to put on socks. It was worrying to see her in such a state.</p>
<p>"You certainly look worse for wear," Cinder commented. Neo pouted at her as she slowly made her way to the couch and sank to the cushions. Before Cinder could react, Neo flopped down, squirmed to lay her head in her lap, and rolled onto her back. "I'm busy," Cinder told her sternly.</p>
<p>Neo's response was a soft and pitiful keening sound. She fumbled to grab Cinder's left wrist, staring up at her with pleading doe eyes.</p>
<p>"Neo. I'm <em>busy</em>," Cinder repeated. Neo whined and tugged on her wrist, so Cinder rolled her eyes and stopped resisting, curious about what she wanted. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she was definitely taken by surprise when Neo gently guided her hand under the hem of her sweatshirt and pressed it against her lower stomach.</p>
<p><em>What is she trying to accomplish here?</em> Cinder raised an eyebrow at the woman in her lap. Neo let go of her wrist to sign something at her. The odd angle made it hard to translate, so it took a few seconds for Cinder to understand what she was asking for and why.</p>
<p>"I suppose I can take a short break, if you're really in that much pain," she relented. "You're lucky you're cute," she added as she carefully activated her Semblance.</p>
<p>The reaction was instant. Neo sighed with relief at the warmth, eyes full of soft gratitude and affection. Cinder rubbed slow, small circles over her stomach, feeling the smaller woman go languid under her touch. After a few more seconds, Neo's eyes fluttered closed.</p>
<p>"Is this warm enough?" Cinder asked. Neo nodded, a content smile playing across her lips. "Just ten minutes."</p>
<p>Neo opened her eyes and pouted at her.</p>
<p>"There <em>is</em> a reason I've been awake for," Cinder checked the time on her laptop, "about eighty hours now." Neo looked positively outraged.</p>
<p><em>"You need to sleep,"</em> she signed—easily decipherable now that Cinder had gotten a little more time to adjust to her current perspective. Not that the message was very appreciated.</p>
<p>"No, what I <em>need</em> is to finish this ridiculous project so I can move on to my two remaining essays, do all the work for a 'group project' because the rest of my assigned group are immature and unmotivated idiots, and study for my three exams this week," Cinder retorted.</p>
<p>
  <em>"When are your essays due?"</em>
</p>
<p>Cinder elected not to answer, since admitting the due dates were two and three weeks away respectively wouldn't help her against Neo's accusatory glare.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Your group project?"</em>
</p>
<p>Okay, so maybe it hadn't technically been assigned yet and was scheduled to be due in a month and a half, but all the information was in the syllabus. Cinder's class was full of imbeciles, and somehow she always got stuck in a group with some idiot or another who didn't understand what a lesbian was, so she was getting it out of the way to avoid interacting with anyone.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Are all three of your exams actually this week?"</em>
</p>
<p>Two of them, and one of those barely counted more towards the final grade in the class than a small quiz. Her continued silence was answer enough; Neo knew her too well.</p>
<p><em>"You're going to burn yourself out again."</em> Neo's eyes were unbearably sad, so Cinder looked away.</p>
<p>"I'm fine," she dismissed the concern. A hand grabbed her chin and yanked her head down so her eyes met Neo's again.</p>
<p><em>"I watched you collapse in the middle of campus last year, and I almost got in trouble for pulling a knife on the paramedics to make them let me stay with you. I got a scared video call from Winter four months ago because you fainted in her fancy rich-person hot tub and nearly drowned," </em>Neo reminded her. <em>“Do I need to go on?”</em></p>
<p>"I can handle it this time," Cinder insisted, growing agitated. Neo took a calming breath before responding.</p>
<p>
  <em>"No you can't. You always say it but you never can. You end up in an exhausted daze. You work yourself into a frenzy. You get into fits of rage...which honestly scare me."</em>
</p>
<p>"I would <em>never</em> lay a hand on—!" Cinder was cut off when Neo pressed a finger to her lips.</p>
<p><em>"Not for myself. I'm scared you'll lose control and take it out on yourself again," </em>Neo corrected her. <em>"You haven't in a while, but..." </em>Neo trailed a hand down Cinder's left arm, tracing her scars.</p>
<p>"I just...I need to...I have to keep working. I can't let myself fall behind. I can't..." Cinder faltered. Neo sighed.</p>
<p><em>"I know,"</em> she acknowledged. She knew about the past, knew why Cinder relapsed into these desperate attempts to excel, to stay ahead. <em>"But it's pointless if you destroy yourself trying."</em></p>
<p>"I've only ended up being sent to the hospital three times since I started college," Cinder argued. Neo was unimpressed.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Congratulations! And you've managed to barely avoid hospitalization how many times now?"</em>
</p>
<p>"I—that isn't relevant!" Cinder hissed. Neo scowled.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Really? It's not? How many times have you ended up so exhausted that you were bedridden for days? How many times have you gone into a mental decline because you were incapacitated? And how many more times are you going to make me watch you suffer like that?"</em>
</p>
<p>"If you want to leave me, just get it over with!" Cinder spat bitterly. Neo's eyes widened, hurt and shocked. Cinder flinched, realizing she'd crossed a very important line. "I didn't mean...I don't know why I said that."</p>
<p><em>"An abandonment complex, emotional instability, a mess of insecurities you mask with your ego, previous girlfriends who couldn't handle you or only wanted your body...and like I've been saying, you need sleep,”</em> Neo replied, recovering. <em>"Also, my cramps?"</em></p>
<p>"What?" Cinder realized she'd subconsciously deactivated her Semblance at some point and quickly remedied that. "Oh. Sorry."</p>
<p><em>"I'm going to make a deal with you,"</em> Neo informed her abruptly. Cinder raised an eyebrow, intrigued.</p>
<p>"What kind of deal?"</p>
<p><em>"The 'ridiculous project' you're trying to finish. Tell me about it, and I'll explain,"</em> Neo replied. Cinder clenched her teeth at the mere mention of it.</p>
<p>"It's an assigned experiment, a five to ten-page report on it, and an oral presentation. And the professor hates me. He goes out of his way to make every class, every test, and every assignment hell for me. I have to work harder than anyone so he can't get away with failing me out of spite. If I make even one mistake..." she growled.</p>
<p>
  <em>"When is it due?"</em>
</p>
<p>"The day after tomorrow. It was assigned two weeks ago, but three days ago he realized he 'accidentally' gave me the wrong experiment. In other words, he's making me do a two-week project within five days—<em>after</em> I'd already finished the one he previously assigned me."</p>
<p><em>"Watts,"</em> Neo guessed. Cinder had come back from his class angry enough times that it wasn't even a question.</p>
<p>"Yeah," she confirmed anyway. Neo wrinkled her nose.</p>
<p><em>"I already hated that guy, and I hated him more and more every time you came back from his class in a bad mood, but this shit he's pulling now is the final straw, so I'm going to get him fired,"</em> she declared. Cinder let out an amused huff.</p>
<p>"And how will you do that?" she asked. She didn’t expect an actual answer but Neo didn't even hesitate.</p>
<p>
  <em>"It may include breaking and entering, small and well-placed incidents, a flat tire, some bottles of the expensive alcohol he isn't supposed to have on campus, a sedative, and if we're lucky, a little inadvertent assistance from gravity and Ironwood."</em>
</p>
<p>"Just how long have you been planning this?" Cinder was taken aback at the immediate response. Neo considered.</p>
<p>
  <em>"The time you locked me out of your dorm after his class because you were so furious you wanted to hit something, and you were worried you'd see so much red you might accidentally hit me in blackout rage. You've never told me what happens in his class to make you so angry, or even if it's actually him or just another student—though I was pretty sure it was him—so I planned for both situations."</em>
</p>
<p>"I'm impressed," Cinder commented. Neo smirked. “Now what was that ‘deal’ you mentioned?”</p>
<p>
  <em>"You finish the report for your project, then eat something more substantial than coffee and whatever quick snacks you've been living off of for the past few days. And then you get some damn sleep."</em>
</p>
<p>"How did you know I'm working on the report right now?" Cinder was taken aback. "And how do you know I haven't been eating?"</p>
<p><em>"Because I can see it on your computer. And once again, you've done this before, so I know you don't take the time for more than the minimum amount of food to keep hunger from 'distracting' you,"</em> Neo pointed out, almost accusingly.</p>
<p>"I haven't even started working on the oral presentation. I'll do all that after I'm completely finished."</p>
<p><em>"Nope. You can start that part when you're well-rested. If you make me physically drag you to bed while I'm on my period, I'll make damn sure you regret it,"</em> Neo threatened with a scowl.</p>
<p>“Fine,” Cinder gave in reluctantly. Neo smiled brightly, and dammit, it was nigh impossible for Cinder to stay bitter in the face of such genuine fondness, joy, and relief. She wondered when she’d gotten so soft—even if only a select few people got to see that soft part of her—and realized she didn’t even mind anymore.</p>
<hr/>
<p>It took Cinder almost two hours to finish her report. In all fairness, she probably could have done it in half that time if she’d managed to hold true to her “just ten minutes” condition, so Neo had no one but herself to blame for the extra worktime. She very easily could have gotten medicine or an actual heat pack, but for some reason she always preferred to test Cinder’s control over her Semblance. More than once, she’d accidentally burned the smaller woman—not recently, since she’d gotten better at temperature control thanks to the past couple years of being conned into this kind of situation—but Neo was stubbornly insistent about the matter. Thus, Cinder spent twice as long on the stupid paper than she would have if she’d been using both hands to type. By the time she finally closed her laptop, Neo was half-asleep.</p>
<p>“Neo, get up,” Cinder ordered, retracting her hand and trying to nudge Neo off of her lap. The other woman huffed and shook her head, keeping her eyes closed. “Fine. Then I guess I’ll start working on that oral presentation after all,” she threatened. Neo’s eyes instantly shot open and narrowed in a reproachful glare. “What? If you don’t want to move yet, that’s fine with me.”</p>
<p><em>“You wish.” </em>Neo huffed and stood. Cinder took a few extra seconds to do the same, letting Neo have that rare satisfaction of <em>not</em> needing to look up to meet her eyes. The gracious act went expectedly un-thanked.</p>
<p>“Then you said you were going to force me to sleep, right?” Cinder prompted, crossing her arms. Neo gave her a withering look.</p>
<p><em>“Nice try. I know you didn’t actually forget, so we’re talking about this later,” </em>Neo informed her, her stern expression leaving no room for Cinder to argue that there was nothing to talk about—<em>even though there really wasn’t</em>—as the smaller woman grabbed her arm and dragged her to the kitchen with unnecessary force.</p>
<p>“I’m fine. I’ll eat when I wake up from my mandated nap,” Cinder assured her irritably. Neo rolled her eyes.</p>
<p><em>“Yes, you will,” </em>she concurred, but when Cinder tried to turn and leave the kitchen, she found a hand grabbing her shirt and yanking her back. She stumbled, regained her balance, and scowled at Neo, who returned the look full force. <em>“But you’re also eating now.”</em></p>
<p>Insisting she wasn’t hungry would only make Neo more convinced that there was something to talk about, so Cinder pressed her lips together and sat at the kitchen table. She wasn’t hungry, that was all there was to it. It had nothing to do with the way her self-image always fell apart when she was caught in one of these waves of the overwhelming need for perfection at all costs. Not that Neo would ever believe her, she mused bitterly, watching the woman in question go about putting together something-or-other for her to eat. It looked like it would take a bit of time, so Cinder decided there would be no harm in slipping back out to the lounge and trying to look over some notes.</p>
<p>Some partners, upon taking notice of an attempted escape, would call out a protest. Others might come and bodily haul their paramour back to what they considered an appropriate position. Neo did neither. Granted, she was physically incapable of taking the first course of action, but that was still no excuse for her to start throwing things. It especially didn’t excuse her decision to throw something firm and heavy, putting enough force behind it that Cinder stumbled and lost her breath when it struck between her shoulder blades.</p>
<p>“What the hell was that for?” she snarled, whipping around to glare at Neo with enough fury to make a lesser human tremble. Neo just rolled her eyes and pointed at the chair her girlfriend had vacated. “Don’t fucking—what if you’d hit me in the head?”</p>
<p><em>“You’d get some sleep right away instead of after eating?” </em>Neo cocked her head innocently. <em>“I guess you’re right, that would have been terrible.” </em>Cinder scowled but relented, though she left the improvised missile—she really wanted to know who was cluttering the kitchen with canned soy milk when none of the suite’s residents were lactose intolerant—on the floor.</p>
<p>“If you’re going to throw something at me, throw something that won’t leave a bruise,” she muttered.</p>
<p><em>“Would you actually stop for anything that doesn’t hit hard enough to make your temper slip?” </em>Neo retorted with a smirk. Cinder didn’t reply to that, which Neo clearly took as a victory before she turned back to her task. After a couple minutes of boredom and wishing Neo would let her work to fill the wasted time, Cinder found a plate being placed in front of her.</p>
<p>“I didn’t ask for this and I don’t want it,” Cinder established. Neo looked at her exasperatedly. “But I don’t want your effort to go to waste, so I’ll eat it anyway,” she added through gritted teeth. Neo smiled brightly. “You’re so obnoxious sometimes.”</p>
<p><em>“But you love me, right?” </em>Neo countered with a smug smirk. Cinder averted her eyes, but her attention was brought back when Neo poked her cheek. <em>“Do you love me?” </em>she prompted, wide-eyed and innocent. Cinder turned her face away only for Neo to move to her other side. <em>“You do love me, don’t you?” </em>Wonderful, now she was pouting. Cinder groaned and closed her eyes.</p>
<p>“You already know I do,” she grumbled. It was enough—she felt a kiss on her cheek and heard Neo take one of the other seats. Cinder had significant difficulty saying those three words herself. It wasn’t because of stubbornness (although that surely didn’t help), but because she still wasn’t used to being on either end of the phrase. It was hard for her. She opened her eyes, actually looked at the food in front of her—</p>
<p>Cinder was going to have a serious talk with her roommates about what they decided to put in the communal kitchen. First canned soy milk, and now this? She knew it wasn't Neo’s, and it wasn't hers either, so apparently either Emerald or Winter secretly enjoyed microwave chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs. Or maybe both of them did. Cinder wouldn’t even be surprised.</p>
<p>“This is ridiculous. I’m not eating it.”</p>
<p>Neo kicked her in the shin and she winced.</p>
<p>“Fine, but you’d better make it up to me.”</p>
<p>Now <em>that</em> was an idea Neo was amenable to, judging by the grin spreading across her face.</p>
<p>It almost made the cringe-worthy meal worth it. Almost. But Cinder could read between the lines. Such a deliberate use of childish “cuisine” was an accusation. Neo was chiding her for the pitfalls of her zealous work ethic by calling her a child. Cinder scowled at the plate used to deliver the message. An insult shrouded in false concern…how elegant. Her frown deepened as her thoughts began to spiral, but the descent into darkness was abruptly halted when Neo slid onto her lap. Cinder blinked, the world coming back into focus. She opened her mouth only to be cut off before she could speak by the light brush of soft lips over her own. (Just as well, since anything she said would have been mindless vitriol that she’d immediately regret.)</p>
<p><em>“Don’t tell me you’re okay,” </em>Neo signed when she pulled away, eyes full of sorrowful worry.</p>
<p>“I was just stuck in my head. I’ll be fine,” Cinder assured her. Neo tilted her head with a deadpan stare, silently calling bullshit and demanding more of an explanation. “Why, of all the things in this kitchen, did you decide to make that monstrosity?” Cinder asked, trying to keep her tone casual.</p>
<p><em>“I knew it would annoy you,” </em>Neo confessed with shameless honesty. <em>“Also, Emerald stole the last waffle after I called it, so this is payback.” </em>Which answered the question of whose stupid chicken nuggets these were. <em>“But your tired brain said something else, right?” </em>Neo looked her in the eye, seeking the truth. Cinder sighed.</p>
<p>“So you weren’t using it to call me a child?” she asked. Neo shook her head and Cinder let her shoulders slump with a quiet sigh of relief.</p>
<p><em>“So that’s all cleared up, right?” </em>Neo stood. <em>“Now eat so I can make you go to sleep,” </em>she ordered, snagging a slightly deformed T-rex before returning to her own seat.</p>
<p>“’Make me’ go to sleep?” Cinder raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “How? Drugs? Hypnosis? Blunt force trauma?”</p>
<p>Neo just winked and bit the head off the T-rex. Cinder couldn’t fight a half-smile as she finally resigned herself to eating the stupid dinosaur chicken nuggets. It could have been worse, she accepted. Her eyes fell to the can of soy milk on the floor. It could have been much, much worse.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Cinder didn’t even get to clean up her prior workspace before Neo was all but dragging her to her bedroom and forcing her to sit on the bed. She knew Emerald and Winter wouldn’t touch anything whenever they got back, but it was the principle of the matter. She didn’t like leaving anything out of place, especially in a domain that wasn’t exclusive to her. Neo didn’t want her going near anything related to her studies, though. She was too wary of Cinder trying to keep herself awake for the sake of her grades. Thus, she was watching Neo set her alarm clock for about nine hours later, then unplug its two backups. If she was anyone else, even a friend, Cinder would have lashed out at her for intruding on <em>her </em>private space and messing with <em>her </em>belongings. But it was Neo, and Neo had special girlfriend privileges. Satisfied that anything in the room capable of disrupting sleep had been neutralized, Neo sat on the bed beside Cinder, with Cinder’s phone in her hand. Unlocked, of course. Neither of them bothered to safeguard from each other anymore. Cinder looked over Neo’s shoulder to see she was typing a message to the group chat between them and their roommates. And Sienna, because it had been easier to add Emerald to the existing roommate chat than to make a whole new one. A glance at the latest title for the chat was a dead giveaway that Winter was the most recent one to have solo access to it.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>
  <strong> <span class="u">Emerald, please stop changing everyone’s names. Including your own.</span> </strong>
</p>
<p><strong>Cinder : </strong>Be quiet when you come back, I’m making the idiot take a nap. -Neo</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Cinder bristled at the insult, but she didn’t bother arguing. It only took a few seconds for the replies to come, one after another.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>
  <strong> <span class="u">Emerald, please stop changing everyone’s names. Including your own.</span> </strong>
</p>
<p><strong>Winter : </strong>Good. I tried to tell her to do the same, but she threatened to melt my laptop.</p>
<p><strong>Emerald : </strong>she threatened my bike when i tried</p>
<p><strong>Sienna : </strong>It’s good to see some things never change. Cinder still has no concept of breaks and Neo is still the only one who can make her see reason.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Neo glared at Cinder accusingly.</p>
<p>"You know I don't react well to being ordered around," she defended herself with a shrug. Neo rolled her eyes but didn’t try to push it, just powering off Cinder’s phone and hopping off the bed to put it on the desk.</p>
<p><em>"Lie down. I'll be back in a minute,"</em> she ordered.</p>
<p>"You'll be back?" Cinder repeated, pleasantly surprised. Neo huffed.</p>
<p><em>"Did you really think I’d trust you to actually sleep? I could use a nap too, so I'm going to sleep on top of you to make sure you don't get up earlier than I think you should,"</em> she explained.</p>
<p>"You slept all morning,” Cinder reminded her.</p>
<p><em>"And your point is...?"</em> Neo raised an eyebrow. It took a few seconds for Cinder to recall why her girlfriend would be so fatigued. Neo scoffed, watching the realization slowly dawn on her face. <em>"How long did you spend helping with my cramps earlier? And you seriously forgot?"</em></p>
<p>"I get it, I'm more tired than I thought," Cinder muttered. "Just hurry up; the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner I can wake up." Neo shot her a glare for that attitude before leaving the room. Cinder sighed and lay down, rolling onto her side and staring at nothing. Eventually, she closed her eyes and tried to relax to no avail—then she was being forcefully rolled onto her back. Her eyes flew open and focused on the woman standing at the bedside with her hands on her hips. "What was that for?" Cinder growled.</p>
<p><em>"I told you: I'm sleeping on top of you so you can't try to sneak out of bed and keep working," </em>Neo reminded her.</p>
<p>"I thought you were kidding about that," Cinder admitted. Neo winked and crawled on top of her. "You know, if you think I'm more stressed than tired, I wouldn't argue with you..." Cinder smirked and propped herself up on her arms to lean closer. Neo rolled her eyes fondly, planted a hand on her collarbone, and shoved her down to lie flat on the bed again.</p>
<p><em>"Sleep for the full nine hours,"</em> Neo told her. <em>"Then we can talk.”</em></p>
<p>With that, she lay down atop the taller woman, curling up and settling her left cheek over the center of Cinder's chest. She reached back to fumble for Cinder's right wrist, pulling her arm over her own body and pushing her hand under her sweatshirt.</p>
<p>"I can't sleep <em>and</em> be your personal heat pack," Cinder pointed out even as she activated her Semblance. Neo huffed out a sigh and started tapping Morse code on her right arm.</p>
<p>
  <strong>..-  -.  -  ..  .-..</strong>
</p>
<p>"Until I fall asleep?" Neo nodded against her chest. "Alright," Cinder consented. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again and took a shaky breath. “Neo?” Neo sat up to meet her eyes worriedly. Cinder’s own gaze slid off to the side as her chest was gripped in a crushing vice. This was frustratingly hard, but this was one of the situations where she knew she had to do it anyway. “I love you,” she said quietly, barely above a whisper. Once the words were gone, she met Neo’s eyes again. Her girlfriend was staring at her, open-mouthed and awed, but quickly recovered.</p>
<p><em>“I love you too,” </em>she signed with a soft smile. The pressure in Cinder’s chest eased.</p>
<p>“Enough to kiss me?” she prompted, and Neo’s smile broke into a silent laugh.</p>
<p><em>“Always, but I know you better than that. You say it’s just a kiss, until it’s not, and then you don’t get the sleep you need,” </em>she accused, quite accurately and from plenty of experience.<em> “Take your nine-hour nap, Cinder. You’ll get your kiss when you wake up.”</em></p>
<p>“Make it worth the wait, then,” Cinder suggested, closing her eyes. Neo nestled into her with a pleased hum, and this time, Cinder remembered to soothe her cramps on her own. “Then again, you always do,” she mumbled, closing her eyes again. With the steady rhythm of Neo’s breathing against her chest, she finally found her mind at ease.</p>
<p>She wasn’t anxious about her classes, or Watts and his vendetta against her. She wasn’t stressed about the possibility of her GPA slipping marginally. She wasn’t drowning in her own insecurities or her past or the desperate need to strive for perfection. She wasn’t concerned about the future. She was sure all of that would come back in full force later, but for now, she was content to just tighten her hold on Neo and let herself drift into dreams.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sigh...leave it to me to make a Tumblr and AO3 specifically because of Spicecream week, then not post anything for most of the days because 1) AUs are my specialty and because most of the works for the not-AU prompts were more canon-themed I felt weird about finishing and posting mine, 2) my “oneshot” for the Gamer AU prompt ended up with so much worldbuilding (and had an odd, roundabout take on the prompt anyway) that I can’t even really post it as a oneshot, and 3) I’m apparently incapable of NOT writing lengthy oneshots that take a lot of fucking time (especially because I have a shit ton of irons in the fire right now as far as writing goes). And then not even post the one thing I commit to on time!</p>
<p>By the way: Neo left the headless T-rex on the table with a Post-It note that says "Payback for the waffle" and Emerald was very upset when she realized Neo took her comfort chicken nuggets; the soy milk is Winter's; Watts gets his bitch ass fired and a black eye courtesy of Ironwood, all according to Neo's plan; Mercury is the one who got Emerald hooked on the dinosaur chicken nuggets in the first place; Roman makes another "oh god they were roommates" joke and Cinder burns a hole in his jacket; and Sienna is totally going to win the bet going on amongst them all behind Cinder and Neo's backs about who's going to propose and when.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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